Chapter 61 Thrilling
Mo An was heartbroken that none of the three wolves could be saved. "Those were the ones you painstakingly brought back from the mountains, sister."
Molly patted his head. "It's nothing serious. You're bound to encounter things like this in your life. Sometimes you work hard at something and pay the price, but the result isn't what you hoped for. At that time, you have to learn to accept the result, learn from it, and correct it next time."
“Wolf meat doesn’t taste good,” Ji Hefeng interjected. “The valuable part of a wolf is its pelt.”
Mo An looked at him with suspicion, "Really?"
Ji Hefeng nodded affirmatively, "Really. If you don't believe me, go to the cafeteria tomorrow and try the wolf meat cooked by the head chef. It's not even as good as pork. I specifically asked the head chef to save a pot for our family. When you get there, just mention my name."
Mo An felt a little better.
"I'll pick up the wolf pelt tomorrow and have someone process it so you can make shoes," Ji Hefeng added.
“We also brought back a deerskin, so take that with you.” Molly took a deerskin and most of a half-eaten roasted venison from her basket.
Ji Hefeng's gaze deepened. "You've had quite a haul today."
Molly nodded and pointed to the fish in the basin. "Our family can't eat that many. We'll send a few over to your superiors and comrades later."
"I'm reluctant to part with it." Ji Hefeng was unwilling; this was something she had worked hard to bring back.
Molly rolled her eyes. "He who eats another's food is bound to do the same. It's just a fish; there's no need to make him feel uncomfortable."
Ji Hefeng selected five fish weighing about eight pounds each and placed them in a basin. "I'll go deliver the fish now. You guys heat up your food first, no need to wait for me."
No sooner had Ji Hefeng left than Zhao Jian'an arrived.
"I had extra training today and got back late. I heard it was lively here, so I came to check it out." Zhao Jian'an ran so fast that he lost a shoe but didn't even bother to pick it up. He had left early this morning and only returned to the barracks five minutes ago, only to hear that Ji Hefeng had recovered from his illness!
He arrived in a flurry, and just a second before pushing the door open, he was still wondering if it was a mistake. He thought he should hold off on asking and wait until he met the person before he knew the answer.
When they pushed open the door, they were met with three faces: one big and two small.
“What about the season and the wind?” he asked.
"He went to deliver the fish." Molly noticed his heavy breathing and wondered if something urgent had happened. "Is it something urgent?"
"You just said he went to deliver fish?" Zhao Jian'an picked at his ear. "He went in person?"
Molly realized that this person didn't know that Ji Hefeng had recovered, so she gave an affirmative answer, "Yes, he went in person and should be back soon."
"So what they said is true? And the rheumatism is cured?" Zhao Jian'an was still trying to confirm.
Molly: "I don't know. Anyway, I can walk and run now. I need to go to the hospital for a check-up tomorrow so we can be sure then."
Zhao Jian'an chuckled, looking like a fool.
It took him a full half minute to come to his senses. He found a chair, sat down, looked towards the kitchen, and asked, "What are you making? I smell meat."
"I'm heating up the leftover barbecue from today and also made a fish soup." Seeing Zhao Jian'an's dirty appearance, Molly knew without a doubt that he had just come back from outside. "Have you had dinner?"
"No." Zhao Jian'an stood up. "Leave me some meat. I'll go to the cafeteria to buy some staple food."
"No need, we have enough food for today." There were still about 30 pounds of roasted venison, including the meat and bones, and a fish weighed about 10 pounds. In addition, there were four boxes of food that Ji Hefeng bought from the canteen. That should be enough for us.
"That's perfect, I'm too lazy to move anyway." Zhao Jian'an sat back down.
Ji Hefeng returned carrying an empty basin and immediately saw Zhao Jian'an slumped in a chair. Zhao Jian'an was also looking at him. Their eyes met, and Zhao Jian'an's eyes reddened first.
"That's great," Zhao Jian'an said.
Ji Hefeng nodded, "It's very good, I feel better than ever."
The two walked towards each other and hugged tightly.
"Thank you," Ji Hefeng said.
Zhao Jian'an punched him, saying, "We don't talk about this between us."
"Have you had enough of this?" Molly tilted her head to look at them. "It's time to wash your hands and have dinner."
In the center of the table was a wooden basin of roasted venison, surrounded by three large earthenware bowls filled with fish soup. Molly had cut the fish, which weighed over ten pounds, into three pieces, with one piece placed in a large bowl.
Molly only added salt, Sichuan peppercorns, and two chili peppers to the fish soup. Since she didn't have ginger at home, she didn't add any. The fish was fresh and sweet with a very mild fishy smell.
"Just eat it as is," she said.
Ji Hefeng shook his head, "No compromise. We're in for a treat with lots of meat and fish."
"Aren't we in for a treat? Before you came, we ate in the cafeteria every day; we never got to eat such good food." Zhao Jian'an picked up a piece of roasted meat with his chopsticks. "What kind of meat is this?"
"Venus meat." Molly served herself a bowl of fish soup, and then served Mo An and Lu Lu a bowl each. "Sip it slowly, be careful of fish bones."
Seeing that there was no share for himself, Ji Hefeng gave a wry smile and could only serve himself a bowl, while also serving Zhao Jian'an a bowl.
"We're lucky. We've been here for years, and we've only seen a handful of deer." Zhao Jian'an took a big bite of venison. "It's delicious, so good!"
"Is that good luck?" Ji Hefeng disagreed. "She was with two children when she encountered a three-headed wolf. If it were anyone else, they wouldn't be back today."
Zhao Jian'an's eyes widened. "There's also a three-headed wolf!"
"My sister killed them all and threw them onto the rocks. They stopped moving immediately," Mo An said with pride.
"Really? That fierce? Where's the wolf? Let me see." Zhao Jian'an was incredibly curious.
"It's been sent to the kitchen," Ji Hefeng said, his tone tinged with anger as he mentioned what had just happened.
After listening, Zhao Jian'an took a sip of soup before calmly saying, "Leaving aside the loss of the three wolves, I'm afraid my sister-in-law's infamous reputation will spread tomorrow."
Molly herself didn't care.
Ji Hefeng frowned and fell into deep thought.
Zhao Jian'an: "You're currently riding high in the army, and you've become a thorn in their side. Nobody knows where they're lurking or who they are. I was hoping that with your strength, you could play dumb and take advantage of the enemy's carelessness to escape if danger arises. But now, I'm afraid—"
Molly looked at Ji Hefeng, "Is there danger?"
Ji Hefeng nodded, "You, Xiao An, and Lu Lu should not be separated. It's safe in the camp, but we still need to be careful outside."
Ji Hefeng still can't figure out Molly's strength. Does she have the power to fight back in the face of real guns and bullets?
Zhao Jian'an: "We also have people patrolling near the camp. If you want to go into the mountains or the town, it's best to wait for He Feng, or when I have time, we'll accompany you."
Molly: "I'm going to clear the wasteland tomorrow."
Zhao Jian'an: "It's right outside the camp. The area is flat and relatively safe."
Ji Hefeng: "I'm going to the hospital for a check-up tomorrow. The bathroom in my house has already been demolished, and they'll be doing renovations tomorrow. I want to help out so it can be done faster. I've also ordered some lime; I plan to repaint the walls inside and outside the house. Or should we wait a few days before starting the final cleaning?"
Molly refused, saying, "You do your thing, I'll do mine."
Ji Hefeng sighed, "Alright then."
Everyone was stuffed after dinner.
The two children were sitting in their seats, rubbing their bellies, their eyes darting around.
Zhao Jian'an leaned against the wall and said, "I'll walk back slowly, just to help with my digestion."
"I'm going to take a shower." Molly went back to her room to get her clothes.
"Taking a shower right after eating is bad for your health," Ji Hefeng said.
Molly wouldn't listen. "I just want to sleep, but I smell too fishy."
Ji Hefeng sighed helplessly, "I'll go get you some hot water."
Since there was no bathroom, Ji and Feng put up a curtain in the corner for everyone to use when showering. If they needed to use the toilet, they either had to use a urinal or go to the public toilet outside.
The aluminum pot at home could only hold two buckets of water. With so many people in the family, we had to keep adding water and boiling it constantly. Molly was so glad she had sent over her big iron pot; it was huge and made boiling water and cooking so much easier.
Molly slept soundly through the night. When she woke up, she found that her and her two children's clothes had been washed and were hanging in the yard, dripping wet. Needless to say, Ji Hefeng must have washed them.
Molly's expression remained unchanged; she was now able to accept Ji Hefeng helping her with her laundry without complaint.
There is still hot water in the aluminum pot.
Molly brushed her teeth and washed her face with hot water, then boiled more water and put it in the thermos. She had brought the thermos from Xiaonan Village; it was fragile, so she hadn't dared to mail it.
After boiling the water, Molly put a fish into the casserole, filled it with water, and started cooking the fish soup.
Mo An woke up shortly afterward. After he finished washing up, Molly asked him to go to the cafeteria to buy breakfast.
Mo An, carrying a lunchbox, bumped into Ji Hefeng, who was returning with two large bundles of firewood. Mo An glanced at the sky, somewhat surprised, "Brother-in-law, you're up so early!"
"I'm used to it." Actually, it's not that early; he gets up at about the same time as usual. It's just that he's fast and does everything quickly.
Molly: "No morning exercises?"
Ji Hefeng: "I'm still on vacation. Besides, my medical report hasn't come out yet. Once the results are out, the higher-ups will decide when I can go back to training."
Molly: "I'll write two letters in a bit, can you mail them for me?"
"No problem." Ji Hefeng also needed to write a letter to the farm himself, "Do you want to raise chickens?"
"I'll raise it." Molly replied without hesitation.
“I’ll make you a chicken coop and buy you a few chicks.”
"I need a hen, and just one rooster. I also need to raise rabbits, and you need to make a rabbit cage."
"Okay, I'll go catch a rabbit for you."
Breakfast consisted of steamed buns with fish soup, one bowl per person. Each bowl contained a large piece of fish, while Ji Hefeng's bowl had a large fish head. Yesterday, Molly noticed that Ji Hefeng liked to eat fish heads; everyone else avoided them, but he always ate them with his chopsticks.
After breakfast, Molly picked up her hoe and went out.
"Do you know where it is?" Ji Hefeng asked, still somewhat worried.
Molly: "It's behind the camp, next to a river. It shouldn't be hard to find. Brother Zhao said there are vegetable gardens that other military wives have started there. Just follow those vegetable gardens."
“Stop when you’re tired, I’ll finish this later,” Ji Hefeng said.
“I’ll handle it. But is it a big problem if the plot is a fraction or two larger than the allotted area?” Back in Xiaonan Village, Molly felt the vegetable garden was too small, and she dreamed of having a much larger one.
Ji Hefeng was silent for a while, then said, "Molly, if we stop raising pigs, we don't need to grow so many vegetables."
Molly pouted, somewhat disappointed. "Our family counts as two households. Is it okay if we allocate four-tenths of an acre of land?"
Ji Hefeng: "...No problem."
If there's a problem, I'll go to the political commissar and throw a tantrum.
Molly: "I accidentally set a five-minute timer, don't blame me, right?"
Ji Hefeng sighed and rubbed his forehead, "Whatever."
Anyway, it's land so barren that even grass can't grow well, so many military wives are unwilling to cultivate it. No one should care about a penny or two. If someone does care, we can measure it and return it later, it's the same thing.
Molly carried a hoe, with Mo An carrying a basket on his back behind her, and Mo An holding Lu Lu's hand.
After exiting the back gate of the camp, it's only a two-minute walk to the vegetable garden of the military spouses. It was cold at the time, and there weren't many vegetables in the garden, just a few wilted radishes and bok choy.
The vegetable plots were clearly separated, with a path about one meter wide separating each plot.
Behind the vegetable garden is a river, with a drop of two or three meters between the river and the vegetable garden. It takes two or three minutes to walk from the vegetable garden to the riverbank.
"Sister, which side should we choose?" Mo An asked Molly.
There are wastelands on both the left and right sides, and they look pretty much the same.
"Either is fine. Which one do you want to choose?" Molly didn't care.
"I'm fine with either side," Mo An said, undecided.
"Let's go to the left then." It's closer to the river and the river is wider there, but there's one downside: there's no path to the riverbank, and the slope is steeper.
Molly decided to dig a path down herself so that it would be closer to the water and she could reach the water in less than a minute.
The soil here is really bad; the ground is hard and covered with small stones. Besides clearing the weeds, these small stones are the biggest headache.
Molly told Mo An and Lu Lu to collect stones while she went to dig a path.
Seeing her standing on that steep slope, Mo An's heart leaped into his throat. "Sister—"
"I'm fine." Molly continued wielding her hoe steadily, one stroke after another. "Pile the stones together; we'll use them to pave the road later."
At first, Lu Lu obediently followed behind Mo An, picking up stones. Mo An was relieved to see that he was doing a good job. While Mo An was focused on picking up stones, Lu Lu turned around to look for Molly. When he saw Molly, a smile bloomed on his face, and he ran towards Molly with stones in his hand.
On the steep slope, Lu Lu forgot to watch his step and tumbled down the slope.
Hearing the noise, Molly looked up, hurriedly dropped the hoe, and rushed down the slope where Lu Lu had rolled down.
Molly bent down, grabbed Lu Lu's clothes, and pulled him into the air. She slammed her feet into the ground, but the powerful impact didn't knock her down. Lu Lu was suspended in mid-air, looking somewhat dazed. After about a minute, he burst into tears.
Molly hugged him and walked up the slope. Mo An only then realized Lu Lu was missing. Hearing the crying, he rushed over and panicked when he saw Lu Lu covered in mud, "He fell down?"
Molly nodded, "Don't worry, I'm not hurt."
Molly reached the flat ground and tried to put Lu Lu down, but Lu Lu clung to her tightly, sobbing uncontrollably.
"What's going on?" Ji Hefeng had arrived at some point.
“I fell down the slope and got scared,” Molly said.
Ji Hefeng pursed his lips. "The people from the orphanage are here. They've come to pick up Lu Lu."
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